Columbia Market Nursery School

Inspection of a school judged outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Columbia Market Nursery School Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 7PG

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Outcome

Columbia Market Nursery School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children at Columbia Market Nursery School thrive in a nurturing and calm environment. They settle quickly, benefiting from caring relationships with staff, who know them well. Parents and carers speak highly of the school’s welcoming ethos and the strong sense of community it fosters. Children feel safe and confident, eagerly engaging with the wide range of activities provided. The school keeps children safe, ensuring that it has robust procedures in place to address concerns promptly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff work closely with families to identify what children’s interests are, what they know and ensure that they progress well through the curriculum. Children are supported to be fully engaged in the activities and they concentrate well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave very well, reflecting the calm and respectful ethos established across the school. They are encouraged to manage their emotions and behaviour independently, and staff model appropriate responses. Children also learn how to stay safe and keep healthy. The school provides children with many opportunities to share experiences. This fosters mutual respect for other’s differences. The school’s approach to fostering positive relationships ensures that children feel valued and included.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school provides a rich and stimulating environment, where children are supported to grow as confident learners. 26 November 2024

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The curriculum is ambitious and designed to meet the needs of all children. Leaders ensure that the curriculum reflects the school’s context. The school promotes a love of learning through high-quality books, engaging activities and meaningful experiences. Children benefit from targeted support so that they are ready to learn and can take part in activities confidently. Workshops for parents help them to be closely involved with this support. The school also works effectively with external agencies, including to enhance children’s language development and social skills.

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Children achieve well here. The curriculum provides enriching activities that develop children’s knowledge of the world they live in. Children learn to communicate with their friends and build an understanding of being healthy. For example, they can explore the mud kitchen and grow their own fruit and vegetables. These hands-on experiences foster creativity, a connection to nature, and a sense of responsibility. They also promote language development and help children to learn about how they can work as part of a team.

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Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and behave well. They engage enthusiastically in activities, sustaining focus for extended periods. Rhymes, songs, and stories are used effectively to develop children’s early communication and literacy skills. In some areas, however, the curriculum does not clearly set out the steps children need to take to build their knowledge and skills. For example, while teaching includes activities like counting or exploring shapes, there are instances when these activities are not building well on children’s existing understanding. Occasionally, opportunities to introduce ambitious vocabulary or extend children’s thinking in everyday activities are not appropriately identified. Over time, this leads to children’s development of knowledge not being as well supported as it could be.

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The school supports children’s personal development effectively. Staff provide a variety of rich experiences, including visits to local community spaces and gardening projects. These initiatives contribute to building children’s confidence, cultural awareness, and understanding of the world.

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Attendance is monitored closely. Leaders work effectively with families to ensure that they understand the importance of regular attendance. The school follows up on absences promptly.

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Leaders are passionate and knowledgeable, driving a clear vision for high-quality early education. Staff feel valued and supported, with workload managed thoughtfully. The governing body is dedicated to securing the school’s future, working closely with leaders to address challenges and ensure the continued provision of high-quality education. Their proactive approach supports the school’s ongoing development and sustains its positive impact on children and the wider community.

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The school’s thoughtful provision ensures that children feel valued and supported. This creates an environment where children succeed and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. 26 November 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of learning, the school has not consistently set out the steps of learning that children need to take in order to achieve the curriculum end goals. This leads to times when some teaching does not fully support children to build language, knowledge and skills progressively. The school should ensure that teaching is based on a clear understanding of how children’s learning should progress towards achieving the identified curriculum goals.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding for overall effectiveness in October 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 26 November 2024

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 26 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Ms Kate Lawrence

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School details

Website www.columbiamarket.towerhamlets.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 September 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school is part of a soft federation with Alice Model Nursery School. Both schools have the same acting executive headteacher.  The acting executive headteacher took up her role in September 2023.  The school offers a breakfast and after-school club.  The school has provision for two-year-olds.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school. 26 November 2024

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 The inspectors met with the chair of governors, other governors, the acting executive headteacher, the deputy headteachers, teachers, and support staff. The inspectors focused inspection activity on the following areas: communication and language, mathematics, personal, social and emotional development and understanding the world. The inspectors spoke with leaders, visited lessons, met with children and staff, and considered children’s work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and children; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for parents and staff. The inspectors also spoke with parents at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Adam Vincent, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Robinson Ofsted Inspector 26 November 2024

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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